Communication

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Chapter 10
Communication

• Communication

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• The process of exchanging information and
  conveying meaning between a sender and a
  receiver through a chosen medium
• A unique tool that marketers use to persuade
  consumers to act in a desired way (e.g., to vote,
  to make a purchase or donation, to visit a retail
  store)
• Can take many forms verbal, visual, symbolic
  (e.g., unique logo)

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Types of communication

• Mass communication
• uses the mass media (newspapers, television,
  magazines, internet) to disseminate information
• Personal communication
• involves two or more individuals interacting
  directly with each other
• face-to-face
• speaker to audience
• over the phone

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Advantages of mass communication

• Can reach a larger audience
• Is less expensive per capita
• Allows a marketer to do more with less

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Advantages of personal communication

• Feedback is immediate
• Is more flexible, allowing adaptation of the
  message to a specific audience or situation
• Information is generally considered more credible

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Stages of the communication process

• The source
• The message
• The medium
• The receiver
• Feedback

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1. The source of the communication

• Decides to whom the message should be sent
  (target audience)
• Determines what meaning it should convey
• Encodes message so that it is interpreted by
  target audience as intended
• Encoding is presenting an object or idea through
  words or visual images

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• Marketers have many methods to encode their
  messages
• words
• pictures
• music
• symbols
• spokespersons

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Source credibility

• Perceived honesty and objectivity of the source
  influences acceptance of the message
• Most important factor determining credibility is
  the perceived intention of the source
• i.e., the consumer asks what does he or she
  stand to gain if I do what is suggested?
• The greater the perception of gain by the source,
  the more suspect the message

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Credibility of formal and informal sources

• Friends, neighbors and relatives are considered
  to have nothing to gain and thus word-of-mouth
  has great influence on receiver behavior
• Formal sources generally have less credibility
• Exceptions
• Not-for-profit organizations
• Neutral sources (e.g., Consumer Reports)

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• Since consumers inherently suspect commercial
  sources, they judge commercial source credibility
  on other factors
• Past performance
• Kind and quality of service they are known to
  provide
• Quality and image of other products they make
• Image and attractiveness of the spokesperson
• Position in the community

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• Explains why many companies spend money on
  institutional advertising
• Also explains why companies sponsor
  entertainment, sports and community events

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Credibility of spokespersons and endorsers

• Consumers sometimes regard the spokesperson as
  the source of the message
• That person has a major influence on message
  credibility
• Thus marketers are more and more turning to
  celebrities to give testimonials and endorsements
• More effective if what is said is within the
  celebritys recognized competence

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• Credibility of the retailer who sells the product
  has a major influence on message credibility
• Reputation of the medium carrying the message
  also affects the credibility of the message
• Mediums reputation for honesty and objectivity
  affects believability of the advertisement

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2. The message

• Thought, idea, attitude, image, or other
  information the sender wishes to convey
• Critical that the sender encode the message in a
  way the audience will understand
• In order to do so, sender must know
• Exactly what it is trying to say
• The personal characteristics of the target
  audience
• Must then design a message strategy that will be
  perceived and interpreted (decoded) accurately

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Verbal vs. non-verbal stimuli

• Illustrations attract attention in a way that
  words do not
• Most effective ads combine visual and verbal
  message in a complementary manner
• Research on proportion of verbal to non-verbal
  messages is inconclusive
• However, it is clear that visual stimuli enhance
  recall of verbal messages

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One-sided vs. two-sided messages

• One-sided messages tell only the good points
  about a product
• Two-sided messages also disclose negative aspects
  of the product
• Effectiveness depends upon
• Nature of the audience
• Nature of the competition

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One-sided messages

• Are more effective where the audience
• Is friendly (e.g., it uses the product)
• Initially favors the communicators position or
• Is unlikely to hear an opposing argument
• When competition does exist and is likely to be
  vocal, one-sided messages lose credibility

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Two-sided messages

• Are more effective where the audience
• Is critical or unfriendly (e.g., uses
  competitors products)
• Is well educated or
• Is likely to hear opposing claims
• In general, are more credible because acknowledge
  product has shortcomings
• Also lower expectations for the product,
  lessening likelihood of dissatisfaction

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Comparative advertising

• Widely used marketing strategy in which a
  marketer claims product superiority for its brand
  over one or more explicitly or implicitly
  identified competitors, either on an overall
  basis or on selected product attributes
• Research supports effectiveness, especially when
  used by an underdog brand to compete with a
  leading brand
• Assists in recall of competitors name
• May be perceived as less likable/believable

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Sexual appeals

• Use of sex in ads has increased dramatically in
  recent years, beyond traditional categories of
  fragrance and fashion
• While it does bring attention to the ad, research
  indicates it rarely draws attention to the
  product
• When sex is relevant to the product, it can be
  extremely powerful

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• Men and women respond differently
• Men respond more positively than women to nudity
  (both in terms of the ad and the brand)
• Romantic content is more attractive to women
• Men who view ads that stimulate a high level of
  sexual arousal cannot remember anything about the
  product

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Fear appeals

• A common and effective advertising technique
• Three different types of fear appeal
• Physical risk (health and safety)
• Psychological risk (social approval and security)
• Financial risk (loss of income and savings)

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• Mild fear appeals tend to be more effective than
  strong ones
• A number of explanations have been given
• Strong fear appeals create cognitive dissonance
• Consumers seek to resolve the conflict by either
  rejecting the message or giving up the behavior
• If the behavior is comfortable/habit, consumers
  more likely to ignore the message

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• A recent study of adolescent responses to fear
  communications found they are more persuaded to
  avoid drug use by messages that depict negative
  social consequences rather than physical threats
  to their body
• High sensation-seekers (personality variable) are
  more likely to use substances and react
  negatively to anti-substance messages because of
  the feeling they are immortal

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3. The medium

• Media strategy is an essential component of any
  communication plan
• Involves placement of ads in the specific media
  read, viewed or heard by the target markets
• To accomplish this, marketers develop a consumer
  profile of their target market that includes the
  specific media they read or watch

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• In considering media selection, marketers must
  consider the elements of
• Reach--total number exposed to an ad in a
  particular medium at any given time
• Frequency--number of times an individual is
  exposed to an ad
• Impact--effectiveness of the medium in delivering
  the message
• Marketers goal is to maximize all three

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Media effectiveness

• Numerous studies have compared effectiveness of
  various media outlets
• Findings have been inconclusive
• Which media is better depends on the product and
  nature of the message
• Print media permits lengthier verbal message
• Newspapers allow timely announcements
• Television allows for visual demonstration of
  what a product can do

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4. The receiver

• Receivers decode the messages they receive based
  on their personal experience and characteristics
• Thus its critical that marketers understand the
  experiences and characteristics of the target
  market

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5. Feedbackthe receivers response

• The ultimate test of the success of the marketing
  communication
• Thus essential for sender to obtain feedback
  promptly and accurately
• Sender can then adjust message for future
  campaigns

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Interpersonal v. mass communication

• Interpersonal communication provides immediate
  feedback
• Feedback is equally important in mass
  communication because of the cost
• It is rarely direct usually must be inferred
• Sender infers how persuasive the message was by
  the resulting action (or inaction)
• They then act as quickly as possible to correct
  any problems